U.S. patent number 4,161,064 [Application Number 05/825,824] was granted by the patent office on 1979-07-17 for machines for board mounting and socket mounting components.
This patent grant is currently assigned to USM Corporation. Invention is credited to Daniel W. Woodman, Jr., Henry L. Wright.
United States Patent |
4,161,064 |
Woodman, Jr. , et
al. |
July 17, 1979 |
Machines for board mounting and socket mounting components
Abstract
Mechanism is provided whereby a machine for inserting multiple
leads of a component into a circuit board may be adapted to first
insert a lead-receivable socket into the board and thereafter mount
a component in the pre-inserted socket. The mechanism preferably is
employed in a machine comprising automatic means for sequencing the
components and sockets predeterminedly. When the machine further
comprises automatic means for positioning the circuit board to
receive the successive components and/or sockets, it is
contemplated all components and sockets will first be programmed to
be inserted directly into the boards, then preferably after
soldering to secure them into board circuitry and remounting of the
board in the machine, new programming of the board positioning
means will mount the proper component into its pre-inserted and
soldered socket. The novel mechanism is provided, for instance, as
an attachment to or auxiliary kit for use in a machine for
inserting DIP components and/or sockets. Specifically this
attachment comprises a movable stop having two abutment or
positioning faces one of which is disposed to engage leading leads
of a component and the other of which abuts the leading surface of
a socket to be inserted. Mounting of the stop is such that it does
not approach the circuit board and hence cannot interfere with it
or previously mounted components.
Inventors: |
Woodman, Jr.; Daniel W.
(Beverly, MA), Wright; Henry L. (Ipswich, MA) |
Assignee: |
USM Corporation (Farmington,
CT)
|
Family
ID: |
25245006 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/825,824 |
Filed: |
August 18, 1977 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
29/741; 29/759;
29/837 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K
13/0439 (20130101); Y10T 29/49139 (20150115); Y10T
29/53183 (20150115); Y10T 29/53261 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
H05K
13/04 (20060101); H05K 003/30 () |
Field of
Search: |
;29/741,739,759,626 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hall; Carl E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Johnson; Carl E. Megley; Richard B.
White; Vincent A.
Claims
We claim:
1. In a machine for separately inserting in circuit boards both
successive electronic components and sockets for mounting said
components, the components and sockets respectively having a body
and dual in-line leads extending in parallel therefrom and the
sockets having portions shaped to receive the component leads
endwise, said machine having an inserting means and a means for
releasably supporting each socket or component above a board and in
alignment with the inserting means, first mechanism operative to
mount a component in a socket preinserted by the machine, said
mechanism comprising a device movable into and out of cooperative
relation with the supporting means to align leads of the component
with the lead receiving portions of the pre-inserted socket, said
device comprising a member having one portion formed to engage and
position a face of the socket when on the supporting means and
another portion formed to engage and position end leads of the
component when on the supporting means in predetermined offset
relation to said positioned face of the socket, and other mechanism
for operating said member in time relation to said inserting
means.
2. A machine as in claim 1 wherein said first operative mechanism
includes a means for decreasing the inserting stroke of said
inserting means.
3. For use in a machine having instrumentalities for inserting the
leads of multi-lead components and sockets for said components
successively into a circuit board, an assembly for mounting on the
frame of the machine, said assembly comprising a pair of laterally
spaced supports, a positioning member movably carried by said
supports for movement remote from the board between an inoperative
position and a component and socket engaging positions for
predeterminedly aligning their respective leads with respect to the
inserting path of the inserting instrumentalities, and actuating
mechanism for controlling the member cyclically in relation to the
operation of said instrumentalities whereby, on occasion,
engagement by the member with leads of a component will position
them for insertion by the instrumentalities in a socket previously
installed thereby in the board.
4. An assembly as in claim 3 including a spacer for limiting the
operating stroke of said instrumentalities.
5. In a machine having means for inserting the leads of electronic
components and their sockets into preformed holes of a circuit
board, said sockets being formed with holes for receiving component
leads, mechanism for inserting the leads of the respective
components into the lead-receiving holes of the sockets having
their leads previously inserted into the board holes by the
machine, said means comprising closeable lead guiding fingers
movable toward and from the board, said mechanism comprising a
positioning member movable into engagement with a socket or a
component, as the case may be, for aligning the leads of each
component and socket with said fingers, and said member being
formed with a surface to abut a face of the socket and a portion
projecting from said surface to positionally abut a lead of the
component without interference engagement with its body.
6. A machine as in claim 5 wherein said mechanism further comprises
a horizontally reciprocable bar for slidably supporting each socket
and component to be mounted, a means for urging each individual
socket and component in one direction along the bar and between the
fingers when open, and said member is an arm having a forked end
engageable with the component and a socket therefor, the forked end
having a first surface formed and arranged relative to said bar to
engage a face of a socket on the bar and another surface formed and
arranged to engage and position a lead of a component on the bar a
predetermined offset distance from said socket face, said other
surface being non-engageable with said first surface.
7. The mechanism of claim 6 wherein the machine includes a frame,
said arm is pivoted thereto for movement out of intereference
relation to the board and to components on the board, and mechanism
actuatable by said inserting means for operating said arm in time
relation thereto.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
U.S. application Ser. No. 728,835 filed Oct. 1, 1976 in the name of
Daniel Woodman, Jr. now U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,347, relates to a
machine for inserting integrated or DIP-type components when
sequenced from their respective sources of supply.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to machines for mounting electronic
components into circuit boards or the like. More especially, it
relates to machines adapted to mount components and sockets,
separately, directly into circuit boards, and thereafter, with
slight modification provided by this invention, to insert
appropriate components into their previously inserted sockets.
Several U.S. patents have disclosed machines for inserting
multi-lead components, for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,550,238;
3,591,040; and 3,727,284. When electronic components have their
leads clinched to interconnect to board circuitry, convenient
removal of a component which may prove faulty is difficult and not
convenient. Mounting of a suitable socket and soldering of such
socket to a circuit board, on the other hand, enables the component
thereafter inserted by its leads endwise into the socket to be
manually removed for testing and or convenient replacement, the
pre-inserted socket remaining connected to the board.
As disclosed in the pending application cited above, multi-lead or
integrated circuit type components are often automatically
sequenced for desired order of insertion. The present invention
enlarges the utility of component inserting machines of the general
type there disclosed by enabling them conveniently and simply to be
adapted to initially sequence and mount sockets as well as
components, and thereafter to insert usually by program, components
into the previously installed sockets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing it is an object of this invention to
provide in a machine for inserting multi-lead sockets and/or
components directly into circuit boards, mechanism operable in
another cycle of the machine to insert components into the
pre-inserted sockets.
For mounting a component into a pre-inserted socket, the invention
contemplates easy conversion by rendering inoperative a lead
cut-clinch mechanism, providing means to shorten the inserting
stroke, and employing a movable stop member having two spaced
positioning faces one of which abuts the leading end of a socket
and the other of which is arranged to abut leading leads of a
component insertable into the socket. The invention, though simple
in structure, thus accommodates the greatly expanded use of sockets
to protect components from the soldering process as well as
facilitate their removal when necessary.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other features of the invention will now be more
particularly described in connection with an illustrative
embodiment, and with reference to the accompanying drawings
thereof, in which:
FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of a DIP and socket sequencing
and inserting machine, the view largely corresponding to FIG. 2 of
the Woodman application above cited except that an attachment shown
in the illustrative machine makes it adaptable to also insert the
components in sockets previously inserted thereby in circuit
boards;
FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation (corresponding largely to FIG. 8
of the above-mentioned Woodman application) and showing mounting
and actuating means for the attachment assembly, a positioning stop
finger thereof being indicated in different positions;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the attachment shown in FIG. 2,
portions being broken away to reveal structural detail;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the stop finger positioning,
relative to a lead guide, a socket about to be inserted;
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 and showing the same finger
indicated in FIG. 4, positioning a DIP component for insertion,
either in a circuit board or in a previously installed socket
therefor;
FIG. 6 is similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 but showing, at a later stage in
a cycle, insertion of the component into a socket previously
inserted by the machine in a circuit board;
FIG. 7 is a further enlarged detail, in front elevation, of the
finger cooperating with a transfer mandrel to position a socket;
and
FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7 but illustrates the finger now acting
to position the component endwise preliminary to insertion into a
previously positioned and inserted socket.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
While the present invention is well adapted for, and by way of
illustration will be described in relation to, the insertion and
mounting of dual-in-line type of components (hereinafter referred
to as DIP's) and sockets therefor, it will be understood that
application of the invention is not necessarily thus limited.
For purposes of convenience the illustrative machine shown in FIG.
1 may be assumed in many respects essentially to correspond with
that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,238 or in the application
Ser. No. 728,835 referred to above, except in the novel particulars
to be particularly described herein relating to the present
invention. Accordingly in this preferred embodiment a selected DIP
(10) or a socket 12 for mounting the component 10 in a support such
as a circuit board 14 is, according to predetermined programming,
delivered by a transfer mechanism generally designated 16 onto a
reciprocable, substantially horizontal mandrel or bar 18. For this
purpose, it will be understood that vertical raceways 17 (FIGS. 1
and 2) respectively and sequentially deliver the DIP's 10 and/or
sockets 12 successively, as programmed, to a picker assembly
designated 10 (FIG. 2) laterally shiftable to deposit them (via
lead reforming and presence detecting means, if desired) endmost
into a chute 21 aligned with the bar 18. The mechanism 16 further
comprises a spring-pressed plunger or take-up 20, (FIG. 2) for
slidably urging the delivered component 10 or socket 12 forwardly
on the bar 18 to a position beneath vertically operable inserting
means 22 which may be of conventional type hitherto disclosed.
Accordingly it will be understood that by cyclical operation of a
double acting piston of an air motor 24 (FIG. 2) controlling
transfer movements of the bar 18, the rearwardly yieldable plunger
20 affixed thereon abuts each component body or socket, as the case
may be, and urges it forwardly relative to the bar. Substantially
at the same time the component or socket is thus coming forwardly a
stop positioning means in the form of a pivotal arm 26 (FIGS. 1-5,
7, 8) is being swung rearwardly into work abutting or operating
position for purposes about to be explained.
The stop arm 26 and its actuating means constitute an attachment
which, together with a few additional parts later referred to,
enable the machine not only to insert DIP's into circuit boards as
heretofore, but also to insert sockets into such boards and,
preferably when the sockets have been soldered thereto, to then
respectively mount DIP's into the soldered sockets. For this
purpose that attachment includes a pair of laterally spaced
supports 28,30 (FIGS. 1 to 3) secured to a stationary or frame
portion of the inserting head 22. These supports rotatably carry a
horizontal shaft 32 to which there is centrally affixed a clamping
block 34 detachably mounting the depending stop positioning arm 26
to be later described in greater detail.
The lower end of the arm 26 is arranged to yieldingly swing
rearwardly for endwise engagement with a socket 12 or component 10
on the bar 18 as the latter is guiding the socket or component
forwardly under the influence of the plunger 20. As shown in FIGS.
1-3, an end of the shaft 32 is connected by a crank arm 36 to the
lower end of a piston rod 38 of a double-acting air cylinder 40,
the latter being affixed to the support 28. Inward positioning
movement of the arm 26 is always to a predetermined position
established by the limit of upward position of the rod 38; outward
movement of the arm 26 is determined by engagement of the arm 36
during its counterclockwise movement (as seen in FIG. 2) with a
stop 42 secured to the support 28.
Focusing now on the lower or work-engaging end of the arm 26, and
with particular reference to FIGS. 3-5, 7 and 8, this end is forked
and formed so that it can position (for vertical insertion)
successive sockets 12 by engaging their leading end faces 44 (for
vertical insertion) and also can position successive DIP's (for
vertical insertion) by engaging their leading, i.e. front, leads
CL, CL, as shown in FIG. 8. More specifically, rearward, recessed
surfaces 46,46 (FIG. 4) of the forked portion of the arm 26 are
arranged to abut the leading end face 44 of the socket 12 which is
wider than the width of the component body 10; and rearward,
laterally spaced projecting tips 48,48 (FIG. 5) of the arm 26
(offset lengthwise of the component from the surfaces 46) are
arranged to abut leading component leads CL, CL (as shown in FIG.
5) as the narrower end face of the component 10 extends between the
surfaces 46. The arm 26 is thus automatically able to position both
leads CL and SL, respectively, as the case may be, so that they
will be presented appropriately to the plurality of closeable pairs
of spaced fingers 50 constituting vertical lead guiding means 52 of
the inserting head 22. The fingers are aligned with lead receiving
holes H of the board 14 (FIG. 3) when the latter is correctly X-Y
positioned with respect to the head 22. It may be noted that the
fingers 50 correspond to the lead guiding fingers 111 of the
members 110 disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,238.
When the component 10 or socket 12 has been positioned endwise on
the bar 18 as indicated, the fingers 50 which have been in
non-interferring or open position are closed by pivoting of the
means 52 to laterally grip the component or socket as hitherto
disclosed, and the bar 18 is retracted rearwardly. As the bar 18 is
removed from beneath the head 22 by the motor 24, the positioning
arm 26 is swung forwardly by the motor 40 to an out-of-the-way
position indicated by dash lines in FIG. 2. The head 22 can then
move its driver 54 and guide means 52 toward the board 14 to insert
therein the component or the socket, or to mount the component 10
into a previously inserted socket 12 as shown in FIG. 6. It is
important to note that the positioning arm 26 does not move toward
the board 14 during insertions and accordingly cannot interfere
with any previously mounted elements on the circuit board.
Since the driver 54 (which corresponds to the rod 132 of the
mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,238) requires a smaller downstroke
for inserting component leads CL into a previously inserted socket
12 on the board 14 than when inserting leads of sockets or
components directly into the board, a detachable spacer 56 (FIGS.
2, 3) have an open-ended slot 58 and fitted with a set screw is
provided and is mountable on a piston rod 60 of a usual double
acting air cylinder 62 for reciprocating the rod 60 to operate the
head 22. It will be understood that, when used, the spacer 56
suitably decreases downward motion of the inserter or driver 54 by
abutting a neoprene bumper 64 which abuts cylinder housing 62.
It will further be apparent that leads CL which are receivable in
the pre-inserted socket 12 need not be clipped and clinched.
Accordingly, means (such as a switch not herein shown) is provided
for rendering a clip-clinch mechanism 66 (FIG. 1), for instance
such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,533, inoperative when
using the machine to mount DIP's in their pre-inserted sockets.
Upon reopening of the fingers 50 while a now-compressed leaf spring
64 of the head 22 is urging the inserted socket 12 or component 10
toward the board, the head 22 is retracted upwardly by pressure in
the cylinder 62, leaving the component or socket installed.
Operation of the machine as adapted for inserting the DIP
components 10, as sequenced by predetermined program, and into
their previously programmed and inserted sockets 12, will now be
briefly reviewed. The cut-clinch means 66 will be made inoperative,
and the spacer 56 will be located on the piston rod 60 suitably to
decrease the downward inserting stroke of the driver 54 since each
DIP to be socket-mounted will be similarly spaced from the board 14
by their respective sockets. It will be understood that generally
all sockets and components to be directly mounted in the boards 14
will have first been soldered to their circuits, and then all other
components will be inserted according to program in their
previously inserted sockets. If there is a change in the height of
sockets to be employed, it will be apparent that a spacer 56 of
suitably modified thickness will be employed.
The picker assembly 19 will have provided a selected DIP for
descent in the raceway 17 for delivery via the chute 21 onto the
bar 18, the leads CL extending downwardly on opposite sides of the
bar. The air cylinder 24 is pressurized to forwardly advance the
bar 18 with its plunger 20, the latter urging the DIP between the
then-open fingers 50. As the DIP is thus urged endwise forwardly,
i.e. to the right in FIG. 2, and beneath the free portion of the
spring 65, the air cylinder 40 is pressurized to move its rod 38
upward and hence shift the forked lower end of the arm 26
clockwise. The projecting tips 48,48 of that arm accordingly engage
the respective front or leading end leads CL of the leads of the
component as shown in FIG. 5. It will be noted that the recessed
faces 46 of the arm 26 do not interfere with such positioning and
alignment of the leads CL with the fingers 50, and hence with
corresponding socket holes of the receiving or pre-inserted socket
12, faces 46 being spaced widthwise more than the width of the DIP.
The plunger 20 yields rearwardly as necessary to enable the
positioning arm 26 to give effect to the full upward stroke (which
may be adjustable) of the rod 38.
Having positioned the DIP accurately relative to the guide means 52
and endwise on the bar 18, the latter and the arm 26 are oppositely
retracted from the component as soon as the fingers 50 have closed
widthwise on the DIP. Now the driver 54 moves toward the board 14
as shown in FIG. 6 to cause the fingers 50 to guide and thrust the
component leads CL into their respective receiving holes of the
preinserted socket 12. Opening of the fingers 50 and retraction of
the driver and the fingers is then effected. While the board 14 is
being positioned for new alignment with the inserting head 22,
preferably as called for by suitable programming means controlling,
for instance, an X-Y board-carrying table (not shown), the picker
assembly 19 is being actuated to prepare for the next sequenced
cycle of operations. It will be apparent from the foregoing that
the invention greatly increases the utility and value of computer
controlled machines for sequencing and inserting components and
their sockets.
* * * * *